Trillium Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• Trillium Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 34.2% in the first quarter, now holding 220,872 shares worth approximately $24.56 million.
• Aflac recently reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.78, surpassing estimates, but revenue declined by 19% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.32 and a dividend yield of 2.2%.

Trillium Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 34.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 114,891 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $24,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,213,449 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $125,519,000 after acquiring an additional 11,345 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $647,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 11,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the period. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.54.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $105.35. 2,645,887 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,582,534. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $56.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 52.61%.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.